This invention relates to the field of tools for hanging wallpaper and a method of applying wallpaper to walls.
An age old problem in the wallpaper hanging art is how to hold a roll of wallpaper in orderly fashion after one surface has been coated with adhesive, or after a pre-coated adhesive surface has been exposed, to then carry it in likewise orderly fashion to the place on the wall to which it is to be applied, then to hold it in place while adjacent portions are matched with a previously applied roll, and to finally maintain such position exactly while the roll is applied to the wall. In the interest of economy and efficiency it is desirable to enable one workman to do all of these things alone.
Many tools, machines and devices have been proposed to do one or more of these things in the wallpaper hanging art. Most of them are complicated, heavy and cumbersome, as well as expensive. U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,040 to Arthur M. Boone illustrates one such device which includes a collapsible boom having casters on its lower end to roll on the floor. A clamping device is provided at the upper end, at each side of the roller extending across the top. The end of a wallpaper roll is clamped to the top roller, the boom is extended the length of the wall with the entire length of the paper hanging down on one side of the device. It is then rolled to the desired location to position the wallpaper, and the strip of paper is then affixed to the wall or ceiling in the usual manner according to that patent. The device is not used in any way itself to apply the paper to the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,097,660 to Arthur E. Gordon illustrates another prior art paperhanging machine which is complex as well as relatively expensive. It includes a table pivotally mounted at the end of a pole, and a clamp on the table assembly to grasp the end of a wallpaper roll. The device is not constructed in such a way to enable draping the wallpaper over a crossarm and then to use the tool to apply the paper to the wall as the present invention is able to do. As stated in that patent, after the strip of paper has been attached to the ceiling (or wall) by means of the machine, the operator then takes a long handled paper hanger's brush and brushes the paper so as to assure that every portion thereof will be brought into proper contact with the ceiling (or wall).
U.S. Pat. No. 2,548,393 to Lyman C. Reibe illustrates another wallpaper hanging tool known in the prior art. This tool is also complex and would be expensive to make. It grasps a roll of paper at each opposite end and stretches it taut by means of angled brace member pivotally connected.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,521,501 Clifton L. Brockmann illustrates a ceiling paper hanger in the form of a rectangular frame. Its primary object is to apply paper to a ceiling in a straight line. One end of the paper is secured to one end of the frame by bent over pins or nails. That end of the paper is applied to the wall first, the pins then pulled out, and a brush on the other end is used to press the rest of the paper roll in place, much the same as any other known paper hanging brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,594,835 to Archie L. Wornstaff discloses a clamping device at one end of two resilient limbs, and a sharp prong at the other end which is stuck into the wall while the clamping end holds one end of a roll of paper jammed into a corner. The object is to hold one end of the paper while a workman has both hands free to apply the wallpaper to the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,626,020 to Ernest R. Burkey and U.S. Pat. No. 1,058,185 to James Krondak illustrate additional known devices available in the prior art for assisting in various phases of hanging wallpaper.
None of the known prior art devices disclose a tool for draping the wallpaper roll over a crossarm at a mid-region of the roll, having the portion of the roll which is to be applied to the lower part of the wall draped on one side of the tool and the portion of the roll to be applied to the upper part of the wall draped on the other side of the tool, and having a clamp adjacent to the hand grasp on the handle whereby a workman can lift, carry, position, align, apply and smooth a roll of paper with only one hand by use of this tool. The machines, tools and devices known in the prior art include projecting members of various kinds on one side or the other which would catch and tear a roll of paper draped over both sides of the device, particularly when soaked with the water base pastes commonly used. The tool in accordance with the present invention is smooth on both sides which face the draped over lengths of paper, and the crossarm and elongated handle are coplanar on both sides to eliminate the possibility of catching and tearing the paper as it is fed out over the crossarm when being applied.